The National Federation of Builders (NFB) has welcomed the report released by Shelter titled, ‘A vision for social housing’, which analyses the state of social housing across the country.
Bringing together 16 commissioners from across the political spectrum, the report is said to reinforce the message that the entire housing sector has been telling successive Governments for the last 20 years, that not enough social housing is being built.
The NFB has welcomed the detail of the report and supports many of the recommendations, specifically the need to build many more social homes and replace those lost to ‘right to buy’.
NFB has said that a responsible Government must act to reduce the burden on the tax payer while increasing the number of social homes available. Positive steps have been taken through the decision to lift the borrowing cap that local authorities face when financing social housing, but not all councils can access increased borrowing unless they already own 200 social homes.
NFB states, however, that Shelter’s report does not acknowledge the role of local plans in stimulating social housing, as local authorities can work hand in glove with providers to assure them of development opportunities during the site allocation phase.
Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the NFB, said: “Industry, popular opinion and economists continue to tell the Government that they must build more social homes. It’s time they listened and became the first Government in 20 years to meet very clear expectations.”
Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Housing and Planning policy at the House Builders Association, added: “A major social house building programme is a no brainer. You help house those in need, stimulate local employment and business, help fix part of the broken housing market and build for the future.”
